I've been working as a sysadmin and have experience with Azure, Entra connect (ADDS), AVD, VPN gateways, storage accounts, recovery service vaults, firewalls, and M365. I also know VMware ESXi and VCSA 6.7-9, Citrix CVAD, and have some experience managing networks with a Netscaler. Additionally, I'm familiar with SolarWinds and Hyper-V with SCVMM, but I only have experience with SCCM and not Intune. With all the recent changes in Citrix and VMware, I'm wondering if I should further develop my skills or pivot to cloud technologies or DevOps. I feel like I might stagnate in my current role over the next five years if I don't make a move.
5 Answers
It sounds like you need to assess how deep your knowledge of M365 goes, especially since you haven't touched Intune, which is a major product in that suite. If you're planning to stay in this field, getting familiar with Intune would be a smart move.
Proxmox could be a good alternative to VMware for you, but it's wise to consider how it stacks up for larger organizations. I switched from VMware to Proxmox and found it worthwhile, but I share your concern about future job prospects.
Before leaning on M365, make sure to get certified in Intune and Defender. Understanding the migration from AD policies to Intune would be crucial. Also, it’s essential to have certifications; they’ll definitely enhance your credibility in this field.
You're on the right track thinking about cloud. VMware might not be dead, but it's definitely slowing down, and Citrix is facing challenges. Learning Azure deeper, along with Terraform or Bicep and Kubernetes, would keep you relevant. Cloud is definitely where the future opportunities are!
Consider diving into Linux, AWS, and containers like Docker, Podman, or Kubernetes. Learning Linux is a great start because it's foundational for many cloud and DevOps processes. Getting into CI/CD and Bash scripting can also really boost your skills in those areas.
Yeah, I've started running commands on Linux and it feels like a crucial step. I agree that learning Kubernetes will be essential!